Page 145 of The Lilac River

It wouldn’t erase the damage, but it was something. A line in the sand between what had been and what was still to come.

Bertie, wise beyond her years, grinned. "Maybe Grandpa will get kept in at lunch break!"

"I think it'll be a little longer than that, sweetheart," Grandma muttered dryly, not even looking up from her knitting. I smiled despite the nerves rolling through me.

Minutes later, the front door swung open, and the Miller brothers walked in, looking like they belonged on the cover of a Wrangler ad: sun-kissed, broad-shouldered, and grinning like men who’d just wrestled the devil and won.

My heart slammed against my ribs as Nash crossed the room, dropping a kiss on my cheek before bending to press one to Bertie’s head.

"Well?" I blurted, unable to wait a second longer.

"Six years," Nash said, voice low and sure. "Four for hiding Mom’s will. Two for the chemicals. No early release."

A sob of relief caught in my throat and stuck there, trembling behind my smile.

"And," Wilder added, flashing a grin, "he has to repay everything he stole."

"Millions," Gunner crowed, waving two champagne bottles around. "Every damn cent traced to his offshore accounts. Thank God for the forensic accountant who found all the money hidden by Dad’s shady accountant."

“Yeah and the fact the shady dude snitched helped,” Wilder added.

Nash squeezed my hand, his thumb tracing slow, calming circles on my palm.

"It’s over, Lila. Finally."

My breath shuddered out of me, and I leaned into him.

"And there’s more," Gunner said, popping a cork. "We’re expanding the ranch, stables, training facilities, the works. Everything Mom would’ve wanted."

The look on Gunner’s face, part awe, part disbelief, made my heart swell.

But it was Nash’s next move that shocked me. Typical of the man I adored, it was unexpected, confident and without fanfare. And it shattered me into a million blissful pieces.

Clearing his throat, he dropped to one knee. The room seemed to freeze around me. In his hand a small black velvet box that caught the light and held it captive.

"Nash..." I gasped, air evaporating from my lungs.

His eyes locked on mine, steady and sure, his smile soft but filled with the kind of purpose that made time stop.

"Lila," he said, voice thick, a tremble of emotion in every word, "you know I’ve loved you since I was sixteen years old. Through the spring of meeting you, the summers of having you, the fall of losing you and every damn season since. And nomatter what we’ve been through, nothing’s changed that. You’re my heart. My home. My forever."

Tears blurred my vision instantly, hot and relentless.

"I want every season that’s left of my life building dreams with you. Growing our family. Loving you with everything I have, every day." He cracked a soft smile. "Will you marry me?"

Was there ever any choice?

"Yes," I sobbed, already half-laughing, half-crying as I flung myself into his arms so hard we almost toppled over onto the floor.

Laughing, Nash caught me easily, sliding the ring onto my finger, a gorgeous square-cut amethyst surrounded by diamonds. Light danced through it like sunlight on the fields that I held so close to my heart.

"It’s the closest thing I could find to lavender," he murmured, pressing a kiss to my knuckles.

"It’s perfect," I whispered, my voice trembling. "You’re perfect."

His mouth crushed to mine, stealing my breath and filling every broken place with something whole and right and good.

A champagne cork popped somewhere behind us. Bertie squealed with joy. The room erupted into laughter and clapping. Life, beautiful, messy, ours, bloomed around us.

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